Chapter One: Ethan Brooks in Another World

　　Ethan Brooks felt he was very unlucky.

　　Ever since fifteen years ago, when Ethan Brooks had just achieved some minor success in martial arts, left Brooks Fortress to travel the world, and risked his life to save a child about to be hit on a bustling street, he had been unlucky ever since.

　　That accident left him bedridden for fifteen years, turning him into a complete cripple. Although several elders in the sect had repeatedly infused him with pure inner energy, they were never able to help him stand again.

　　This incident left the entire Brooks Clan leadership sighing in regret. Ethan Brooks was a once-in-a-century prodigy of the Brooks Clan; given time, his achievements would surely surpass everyone, but that hope was cut short early.

　　Lying in bed all these years, Ethan Brooks had asked himself countless times: if time could be turned back, knowing the outcome, would he still save that child about to be hit?

　　The answer was yes! If he didn’t save the child, Ethan Brooks knew he would never have peace of mind in this life, no matter how great his future achievements. Although he ended up paralyzed from the waist down, he gained a lifetime of peace.

　　A human life is as precious as the heavens; humanity must not be lost!

　　For fifteen years, Ethan Brooks studied every medical classic under the sun, and, combining them with his own condition, developed a set of acupuncture techniques using golden needles. Just as he was starting to see some improvement and finally felt some sensation in his lower body, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck Ethan Brooks, and in a daze, he was dragged by the two underworld guardians, Oscar and Harold Bennett, to the Hall of Yama.

　　Ethan Brooks racked his brains but couldn’t understand it—he was just lying in bed, bothering no one, so how did a bolt of lightning come through the window and strike him so precisely?

　　Looking up at the burly, black-faced man sitting solemnly on the high platform, Ethan Brooks suppressed his anger and stared coldly.

　　It was him, the so-called ruler of life and death, the one who controls the cycle of souls—King Yama.

　　“Ethan Brooks!” King Yama slammed the gavel on the table and shouted.

　　Ethan Brooks stepped forward a few paces, his brows furrowed in defiance.

　　“Do you know your crime?” King Yama shook his head and shouted again.

　　“What crime have I committed?” Ethan Brooks shouted back, his face flushed with anger.

　　“Do you know that you lived fifteen years longer in this life? Fifteen years ago, you should have returned to the underworld and entered the cycle of reincarnation.” King Yama coughed, his tone forceful but lacking confidence.

　　“If King Yama wants you dead at midnight, who dares keep you alive till dawn?” Ethan Brooks glared at King Yama on the platform. “Life and death are not up to me—they’re under your control! How could I have lived fifteen extra years?”

　　“Ahem, well…” King Yama looked embarrassed. “I have a lot of affairs to manage; sometimes mistakes are inevitable.”

　　“What does that have to do with me?” Ethan Brooks grew angrier. “Fifteen years ago, I risked my life to save someone, and in return, I’ve suffered fifteen years in bed. Now, just as I was getting better, you had Oscar and Harold Bennett drag me here! What crime have I committed, and what kind of King Yama are you?”

　　Seeing Ethan Brooks about to explode, Oscar and Harold Bennett quickly pulled him aside, smiling apologetically. “Calm down, calm down!”

　　King Yama’s black face grew even darker, and he muttered weakly, “No matter what, the fact is you lived fifteen years longer.”

　　“So what do you want?” Ethan Brooks asked.

　　“Let me calculate…” King Yama pretended to count on his fingers, then exclaimed in surprise, “Ah, congratulations! In your next life, you’ll still be reincarnated as a human. That makes things much easier.”

　　“What do you mean?”

　　“You lived fifteen extra years in this life, so in your next life, you’ll lose fifteen years of lifespan as compensation. That’s fair, right?” King Yama rubbed his hands together with a sly smile, just like a street vendor.

　　“Why?” Ethan Brooks was furious. “It was your mistake—why should I pay for it?”

　　“In light of the great merit you earned by saving someone fifteen years ago, I’ll spare you the suffering of being reborn as an infant. Oscar and Harold Bennett, take him to the reincarnation passage and find a fifteen-year-old body for him to possess and be reborn.” With a wave of his hand, King Yama ignored Ethan Brooks’s angry protests.

　　Oscar and Harold Bennett finally managed to drag Ethan Brooks out of the Hall of Yama and led him toward the path of reincarnation.

　　“Brother, a blessing in disguise, you never know,” Oscar Bennett tried to comfort him.

　　“Yes, yes,” Harold Bennett nodded vigorously.

　　Ethan Brooks rolled his eyes. “What kind of blessing is this? I’m losing fifteen years of my life for no reason. If it were you, would you accept it?”

　　“That’s not the way to look at it,” Oscar Bennett lowered his voice and whispered in Ethan Brooks’s ear, “King Yama is actually being pretty good to you. Even though it wasn’t your fault, you did live fifteen extra years. Didn’t you notice King Yama didn’t make you drink the Soup of Forgetfulness or cross the Bridge of Helplessness? That’s a kind of compensation too.”

　　Harold Bennett added, “This time, you’re being reincarnated by soul possession, so that body won’t grow up according to your own will. King Yama was afraid you wouldn’t like it, so he specially told us to give you an extra big gift.”